Julian
Barnes was born in Leicester, England on January 19, 1946. He was
educated at the City of London School from 1957 to 1964 and at Magdalen
College, Oxford, from which he graduated in modern languages (with
honors) in 1968. After graduation, he worked as a lexicographer for
the Oxford English Dictionary supplement for three years.
In 1977, Barnes began working as a reviewer and literary editor for
the New Statesmen and the New Review. From 1979
to 1986 he worked as a television critic, first for the New Statesmen
and then for the Observer.
Barnes has received several awards and honors for
his writing including the Somerset Maugham Award (Metroland
1981), two Booker Prize nominations (Flaubert's Parrot 1984,
England, England 1998); Geoffrey Faber Memorial Prize (FP
1985); Prix Médicis (FP 1986); E. M. Forster Award (American
Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters, 1986); Gutenberg Prize
(1987); Grinzane Cavour Prize (Italy, 1988); and the Prix Femina (Talking
It Over 1992). Barnes was made a Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts
et des Lettres in 1988, Officier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres
in 1995 and Commandeur de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in 2004.
In 1993 he was awarded the Shakespeare Prize by the FVS Foundation
and in 2004 won the Austrian State Prize for European Literature.
In 2011 he was awarded the David
Cohen Prize for Literature. Awarded biennially, the prize honours
a lifetime’s achievement in literature for a writer in the English
language who is a citizen of the United Kingdom or the Republic of
Ireland.
Julian Barnes has written numerous novels, short
stories, and essays. He has also translated a book by French author
Alphonse Daudet and a collection of German cartoons by Volker Kriegel.
His writing has earned him considerable respect as an author who deals
with the themes of history, reality, truth and love.
Barnes lives in London. For a complete listing of
his works, please visit the Books
page.
